1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a buoy including a power generating system, and more particularly to an apparatus attachable to a conventional buoy for converting the buoy into a power generating system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has recently become imperative to develop new sources of useful power. The problem of providing useful power is particularly acute in isolated locations where conventional sources of power in the form of electrical energy are not available. For example, work stations permanently, or temporarily, located at sea must be supplied with electrical power for operating equipment on the work stations.
One possible solution to this problem is to utilize the energy available in wave motion to produce usable electric power and, indeed, numerous attempts have been made in the past to devise structures for converting wave motion into usable power.
For example, large stationary structures, such as the random wave hydraulic engine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,346 have been proposed. In this structure, a large barge-like hull is moored via sleeves 320 and buoyant members 218 operate a pump in response to wave motion. However, a structure such as that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,346 is not truly portable and cannot be easily moved to the location of a work station, such as an oil rig, located at sea. Further, because of its static orientation, the hydraulic engine of U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,346 is unable to efficiently utilize all components of wave energy. That is, the buoyant members are only responsive to vertical components of the wave motion and cannot transform horizontal components of the wave motion into useful energy. A further shortcoming of structures of this type is that they must be constructed specifically for use as wave action energy producing structures and are therefore relatively expensive.
A second type of prior art action producing structure is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,739. This patent discloses a structure which is not permanently moored and can be used as a buoy in addition to use as an energy producing apparatus. However, this type of prior art apparatus also suffers from several shortcomings. First, the hydraulic pistion 6 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,739 is responsive only to vertical movements of the structure and, accordingly, it also is unable to efficiently use all components of the wave motion. Further, the buoy structure of this patent is not a conventional buoy which can be altered to perform a power producing function, but rather must be specifically constructed for a hydraulic piston. Accordingly, this structure is also relatively expensive.